Investment House LLC Purchases New Stake in Peabody Energy Co. (NYSE:BTU)

Investment House LLC acquired a new stake in Peabody Energy Co. (NYSE:BTU) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 15,000 shares of the coal producer’s stock, valued at approximately $365,000.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Gendell Jeffrey L raised its position in Peabody Energy by 18.6% in the third quarter. Gendell Jeffrey L now owns 2,194,474 shares of the coal producer’s stock valued at $57,034,000 after purchasing an additional 344,793 shares during the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its stake in shares of Peabody Energy by 106.1% during the fourth quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 2,154,535 shares of the coal producer’s stock valued at $52,398,000 after acquiring an additional 1,109,261 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Peabody Energy by 22.4% during the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,920,570 shares of the coal producer’s stock worth $49,916,000 after purchasing an additional 351,103 shares during the period. Hosking Partners LLP grew its stake in shares of Peabody Energy by 9.0% in the third quarter. Hosking Partners LLP now owns 1,362,201 shares of the coal producer’s stock worth $35,404,000 after purchasing an additional 112,092 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in Peabody Energy by 1.7% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,090,494 shares of the coal producer’s stock valued at $28,342,000 after purchasing an additional 18,109 shares during the period. 87.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on BTU. B. Riley dropped their price objective on Peabody Energy from $34.00 to $32.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 15th. Benchmark restated a “buy” rating and set a $28.00 price target on shares of Peabody Energy in a report on Friday, April 12th.

Insider Activity at Peabody Energy

In other Peabody Energy news, Director Nicholas J. Chirekos sold 14,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, February 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $25.50, for a total transaction of $357,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 24,279 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $619,114.50. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In other news, CFO Mark Spurbeck sold 6,826 shares of Peabody Energy stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $24.57, for a total transaction of $167,714.82. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 75,464 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,854,150.48. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Nicholas J. Chirekos sold 14,000 shares of Peabody Energy stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $25.50, for a total value of $357,000.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 24,279 shares in the company, valued at $619,114.50. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 52,806 shares of company stock worth $1,339,565 in the last ninety days. 0.40% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Peabody Energy Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:BTU opened at $23.53 on Tuesday. Peabody Energy Co. has a 12 month low of $17.71 and a 12 month high of $27.24. The company has a current ratio of 2.06, a quick ratio of 1.70 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09. The stock has a market cap of $3.00 billion, a P/E ratio of 4.72 and a beta of 0.98. The company has a 50 day moving average of $24.36 and a 200 day moving average of $24.45.

Peabody Energy (NYSE:BTU) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 8th. The coal producer reported $1.33 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.41 by ($0.08). The company had revenue of $1.24 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.22 billion. Peabody Energy had a return on equity of 21.45% and a net margin of 15.36%. Peabody Energy’s quarterly revenue was down 24.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $2.65 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Peabody Energy Co. will post 3.07 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Peabody Energy Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 13th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 22nd were paid a $0.075 dividend. This represents a $0.30 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.27%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, February 21st. Peabody Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 6.02%.

Peabody Energy Profile

Peabody Energy Corporation engages in coal mining business in the United States, Japan, Taiwan, Australia, India, Brazil, Belgium, Chile, France, Indonesia, China, Vietnam, South Korea, Germany, and internationally. The company operates through Seaborne Thermal, Seaborne Metallurgical, Powder River Basin, Other U.S.